CHAPTER 567: CHAPTER 24: THE OFFICIALS’ CONSPIRACY

Qing Zizhu snorted coldly, swept his sleeve, and departed, leaving behind Chi Xi, whose eyes were filled with nothing but despair, and the messy remains of the meal scattered on the ground.

Gazing at the rigid Chi Xi, motionless as if petrified, Yue Jinghua squatted down, picked up the secret recipe snow pigeon, took a bite, and, despite her oily mouth, she began to eat and said: "Auntie, your cooking skills are as good as ever."

"No, Captain, that’s dirty now, you can’t eat it anymore," Chi Xi said frantically, attempting to snatch the snow pigeon from Yue Jinghua’s hand.

"Chi Xi, it’s okay if the outside is dirty, but one’s heart must be as clear as a mirror," Yue Jinghua waved her hand dismissively, and finished off the snow pigeon, "A foolish man once said that a woman must follow the three obediences and four virtues, to obey her father at home, her husband upon marriage, and her sons if widowed—it’s all nonsense. In this world, the strong thrive and the weak perish, the only one you can rely on is yourself. I’m giving you a mission, take Gore with you, assist Qian Luo, and secure the transmission tunnel from Five Saints Town and Fengdan County to Wo Hua Imperial City. If you fail, don’t bother coming back; the July Mercenary Team has no use for failures."

Chi Xi was struck dumb, feeling a hot surge in her throat that she could neither swallow nor expel.

After taking a deep breath, she took out her Mercenary Manual and placed her hand on it, "I, Chi Xi, swear upon my life to complete this mission."

Watching Chi Xi resolutely walk away, Yue Jinghua’s smile faded, and a fierce light flashed in her eyes, "Yanyue Chamber of Commerce, I swear to uproot you completely."

After an unpleasant parting with Yue Jinghua, Qing Zizhu was seething with anger.

Just then, Ji Yun, having just been released from confinement, snuck out of his house.

Cooped up in the mansion for days with his craving for alcohol growing restless, Ji Yun invited Zhan BeiAo, Long Jiuzun, Qing Zizhu, and Cheng Ying for a casual gathering.

The group cheerfully clinked glasses and chatted, noticing Qing Zizhu sitting down with a sour face, drowning his irritations in liquor.

Upon inquiring, they learned about the recent commotion at the Underground Beast Fighting Arena.

"What? You mean that kid wore a half gold leaf mask, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with eagle-like eyes and delicate white skin, bearing a despicable countenance?" Ji Yun almost choked on his wine upon hearing this.

"What, you know him too?" Qing Zizhu had already sent people to investigate the identity and background of this individual, but the Imperial City was so large that it was difficult to find out the true identity in a short period of time.

"Giggle, the one who nearly crippled Ji Yun half a month ago is him, one of the young lords of the Imperial Blood Cherry Duke Mansion, Yue Jinghua," said Cheng Ying, who wore a water-blue Ling Luo dress, her apricot eyes slightly glazed after a few drinks, looking indescribably beautiful.

Zhan BeiAo’s hand holding the wineglass shook, spilling some of the wine.

Yue Jinghua! How did she become a young lord of the Duke Mansion?

"So it was him, no wonder he’s so brazen. Ji Yun, it’s not surprising that you got hurt; his Dark Beast is quite peculiar," what bothered Qing Zizhu was the Dark Beast Yue Jinghua possessed and the potentially unique breeding techniques she might know.

Ji Yun’s face turned red and then white. He surely couldn’t admit that he was beaten into a bear’s likeness without even seeing Yue Jinghua’s Dark Beast.

"So you’re saying the young lord of the Blood Cherry Duke Mansion is the dark horse that has recently swept through the Underground Beast Fighting Arena? I didn’t expect him to be so capable," a ripple of interest appeared in Cheng Ying’s beautiful eyes, seemingly quite intrigued by Yue Jinghua.

"His appearance endangers the interests of the Yanyue Chamber of Commerce, and I was planning to ask Brother Zhan to lend me a few War Beasts. I intend to set up a Beast Fight to kill his Dark Beast outright," Qing Zizhu would not be softhearted towards anything that jeopardized the Yanyue Chamber’s interests, even if this implicated Chi Xi.

Zhan BeiAo was known as the Blood Prison War Corpse, and in his camp, whether soldiers or Dark Beasts, all had emerged through bloodshed with rising belligerence.

Qing Zizhu believed that as long as he was willing to lend out a few War Beasts, a few rounds of encirclement and suppression would definitely manage to slaughter Yue Jinghua’s Dark Beast.

"Since Brother Qing has made the request, I, Zhan BeiAo, naturally must help. I can provide three Blood Prison Falcons and four Thunder Blood Foxes to Brother Qing. It’s just that my camp’s War Beasts are bloodthirsty by nature, so if they accidentally hurt someone," Zhan BeiAo had not seen Yue Jinghua with his own eyes, and in his memory, although Yue Jinghua was cunning, her skills were not as extraordinary as the rumors suggested.

He remembered that when he left Shang Kingdom last time, she was just a Dark Earth Cultivator.

In just half a year’s time, how could she have severely injured Ji Yun, who also possessed Dark Earth Cultivation?

Zhan BeiAo naturally harbored intense hatred for Yue Jinghua, but his affair with Sha Fei had become a handle that fell into Yue Jinghua’s hands; unless he had no other choice, he would not personally take action to kill Yue Jinghua.

However, he was very willing to use others to do his dirty work, to let these famous "official scoundrels" take action.

Three Blood Prison Falcons, four Thunder Blood Foxes.

All of these were Middle Level or even High-level War Beasts, Qing Zizhu didn’t expect Zhan BeiAo to be so generous.

"Just let them die, with both me and Brother Long here, plus the connections of the Yanyue Chamber of Commerce and the Underground Beast Fighting Arena, what does it matter if a few fallen Nobles die? Just fight them, preferably kill them all together with their masters," Ji Yun incited from the side; getting rid of Yue Jinghua would spare him trouble too.

"Giggle, how interesting, Zizhu, when is the next Beast Fight? I’ll also rush over to join in the fun," Cheng Ying, unlike most women, did not mind the bloodshed and slaughter of the Beast Fighting Arena.

"Count me in as well," Long Jiuzun was still indifferent, in his view, Yue Jinghua was nothing more than a jumping clown.

"Naturally, you’ll be invited. Since everyone is interested, why don’t we set up a betting pool for this fight, just to see how it compares to the last one?" Qing Zizhu, true to his merchant family roots, was fretting over Dark Beast matters one moment, and the next moment had already set the stage for this War Beast Fight.

Setting up betting pools in Underground Beast Fighting Arenas was not a rare occurrence, but having several High-level War Beasts fight against a dark horse Dark Beast was truly unprecedented.

After Qing Zizhu spread the word, the entire Beast Fighting community of the Imperial City was electrified.

In just one night, the news had spread throughout the Imperial City.

At dawn, when the Hong Shan Butler of the Imperial Blood Cherry Duke Mansion opened the heavy gates of the Duke Mansion, there was already a challenge letter from the Underground Beast Fighting Arena waiting outside.

Upon seeing the challenge letter, Hong Shan’s expression changed drastically, and he immediately delivered the letter to Yue Jinghua’s hands.

"Beast Fighting Bureau?" Yue Jinghua, who had an intense falling out with Qing Zizhu the other day, was already mentally prepared for the other party to cause trouble, but she did not expect the challenge letter to arrive so quickly.

"Miss, you don’t have to accept this challenge. These are War Beasts, bloodthirsty and war-loving, killing without seeing blood. This is clearly a naked provocation," Hong Shan was extremely worried, he even dared not mention the matter to Lie Rou.

"Oh, they’ve set up a special betting pool?" Yue Jinghua opened the betting pool instructions that came with the challenge letter with great interest.

"Miss, you don’t need to pay any attention to this, this is clearly a deliberate revenge by that group of dandies from the Imperial City," Hong Shan was anxiously sweating.

Yue Jinghua snapped the challenge letter shut, "If they want to play games, I’ll play along, and play until they don’t even have their underwear left."